Swift still looked uncertain.
"Maybe.  It's not a risk I'd be willing to take myself though, I don't really like the odds much.  And we don't even know if he will show up, since his family hadn't seen him recently.  I don't think he even knows they're here in Toran."
She frowned slightly, clearly thinking over something.
"I wonder if he is under some sort of enchantment?  Or is he really acting on his own here?  I can't imagine Lord Rimoah wouldn't have noticed a potentially dangerous renegade within the ranks of his Vakeros Knights.  I can't help feeling that we're missing a piece of the puzzle here.  Something is driving him.  That much is certain, so I don't think we can easily predict how he will react."

She looked down at the street, clearly indecisive about the matter.
"What do you think?" she asked, looking up at Frost Ferret and Rasha.  "You two have seen more of him than I have..."

The bountry huntress shook her head.

"Don't look at me, I've only saw him with the mage, and he didn't said a word; he only told us to bring our preys to him once we caught them."

She paused, then added, with a grin toward Shark:

"Although I must say, you're good; I know something of gathering information, and the way you handled that girl was masterful."
This message was last updated by the player at 21:53, Mon 23 July 2012.

Ferret gave a small nod. "He is very powerful," he responded to Swift fox, though with his eyes fixed on Laughing Shark. "You're right that it would take us all to try and best him. And he said he was saving the world when he tracked us down in the forest too. He has either been deceived by the mage or is being controlled in some way. Or there is some real reason why he has developed a hatred of our order."

Ferret's gaze finally moved to the Kai he was actually speaking to. "Dividing our group is too risky," he said to Swift Fox, "but this lead through his family is a more definite one than the magical traces in the forest. But it is probable that we are at greater risk of failure following this lead under the noses of powerful enemies here in Toran. Out in the forest we can operate more freely, though the evidence that we find may be less directly useful."

He glanced at Rasha and the dog before concluding: "It is not wise to try and encounter the Vakeros before knowing more about him and trying to discern a weakness of some sort. But if Laughing Shark's abilities at deception are potent enough, she may discover such a weakness by doing exactly that. There is no obvious correct way to proceed."

His final statement seemed to trouble or even irritate Frost Ferret and as he continued to walk with the others his gaze dropped to the ground in front of them.

"Suppose that those of us who know the forests go there and make our investigations?" suggests Dusk Rat to her fellow Kai with a trace of irritability. "Rasha and Brook have been there before, and I've the ability to inquire of any local creatures as to whether they've seen anything that might prove useful to us. I've no desire to remain stuck in this walled-in place any longer than I have to be, and I've little interest in further wandering around while you question and query every townsperson who seems to possess even the slightest hint of information."
Her eyes flit between the faces of the three other Kai and of Rasha. She's had enough of this, now. Best that at least one of them attempts to do something instead of standing around and talking about it while all around them more people could be in danger as various forces make their moves on the world, or whatever's happening.

Hehe, Dusk Rat finally gets fed up of the dithering and conversation ;).

Swift closed her eyes, emitting a short rather frustrated noise that sounded startlingly similar to a fox growling.
"Ok, well we don't know where the Vakeros is, or where he'll turn up next.  Maybe he's still out there in the forest and you'll have to take him on by yourselves.  Or maybe you'll be safe and the people left behind here will be the ones who run into him."
She shrugged and looked around at everyone.
"Right now I'm tempted to go with it though.  I'd like to think we've been playing it safe up until now, at least everyone is still alive.  But we're getting nowhere fast.  Maybe it's time to take the risk.  Or maybe this is the biggest mistake since Blue Snake finally snapped and made me leader."

She stopped and glanced around, clearly thinking it over.
"Well I'm guessing you two are in favour of splitting up" she said, nodding towards Laughing Shark and Dusk Rat.  "What about the rest of you?  I'm not gonna do the leader thing and order anyone to do anything they don't want to.  If it was me on my own, I'd... Actually, probably better for you if you don't know what I've been tempted to do!  My point is, if we do split up, it could be faster, yes.  But there's also the risk of one of our groups getting wiped out if luck isn't with us.  Is everyone ok with that?"

She sighed and leaned against the wall of the building behind her, one hand idly pulling the Jade Spike from her belt and toying with it, something that the others would probably have come to recognise as a sign that she was either very bored or very nervous.  Exactly which of those she was experiencing right now was probably clear enough.
She added something else, her voice almost too low to catch.
"It's funny.  I've only ever gambled with my own life.  I don't think I can with others.  I'm tempted to do it, but only if the risk is on my side..."


OOC: Tempted to try splitting up and checking both places, but she knows there's the possibility that one of the teams will get wiped out in the process...  Even Swift doesn't feel comfortable making that call on anyone else's behalf ;)

At Swift Fox's question, Rasha answered, her tone bored:

"I'm not a Kai; what I think doesn't matter. I'm in this because your friend said I'd be better paid than the magician would, and considering that the mage paid killers to take us out, I still think I've picked the most convenient side. But about decision on what you have to do..."

She shrugged.

"To me, it's the same; if you split, I'll go to the forest, I'll help more there, and if you stay toghether, then of course I'll still be along."

That said, she returned to sit near her dog, clearly removing herself from the discussion, without even glancing to the only one person, outside of Swift Fox, who was yet uncertain on the path to take: Frost Ferret.

Shark had been listening to the conversation at hand, but something Rasha had said struck an idea; "where was it ye were supposed ta bring yer prey?" She asked as Swift and Frost Ferret conversed. She'd already made up her mind that it was time for her to go this adventurer alone, but there were bits of information she still needed. She was still working out some details in her mind, and if the drop off zone for the kai was in town that would make things -

And that's when Dusk Rat opened her mouth. Turning her attention to the little mousy Kai, Shark's brow arched, "slightest hint of information?" she asked, "wandering around questioning folks?" Suddenly Shark laughed, but it was not like her normal laughs, this one sounded less jovial and more. . . sarcastic. "Oh, lass, I'm sure ye'ave all the answers - you an yer little friends. So tell me, what 'sactly following yer sewer lead got us, eh? That was no waste of time, now was it? No, no, it was a perfectly fine way ta gather information - completely puts ta shame what we gathered'ere in the market - names, family - aye, total waste of time."

"Though m'appy. 'appy ye finally decided ta contribute something ta the hunt other than your still lipped silence and scathing looks - 'cause those be really helpful, they do."

Her voice had cracked into a completely sarcastic and irritable tone by now, "Now, I'll be real clear in what's ta'appen," her eyes darted to Swift Fox, she liked the girl, but she wasn't the type to make these chocies which is why its silly to leave, she added as an after thought, "Ye lot: Swift Fox, Frostie, Rasha and Dusk, are ta leave this'ere city an make for the woods. 'apps ye'll 'ave more luck out there."

"Me, I'm stayin'ere. I've got a plan, see? An it don't involve none of ye; no sense riskin all yer necks on it; nore in wastin the time. This ain't up for discussion, savoy? Now," she looked at Rasha, "if at meetin point's in town?"


Sorry, two posts while I wrote it happened! It's a little disjointed, but Shark waited till Swift Said her bit to go off on her tirade.

The bounty huntress seemed surprised at being adressed by Shark, and her answer came into a confused tone.

"We were supposed to kill them, go to the inn that this Haxadrom had made is headquarter in the hamlet near the woods, and wait there for him or the mage to then lead them to where the body was."

She paused, then asked:

"Why do you want to know this? It's pointless by this point - I doubt any of the bounty hunters but me survived Haxadrom's killers, they had a list and said to each other that they were almost done before leaving. I don't think he'd still be there waiting if he ordered all of us killed, right? And beside, it still wasn't here in Toran anyway..."

The woman didn't seemed to understand what Shark might be planning.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:23, Tue 24 July 2012.

Dusk Rat looks a little startled as Laughing Shark starts to address her so rudely, then merely looks somewhat bored. After the verbose Kai has finished reeling off her insults, Dusk Rat simply gives her a shrug.

"Suit yourself." she says, and without further ado turns and starts to walk away. She pauses when she nears Rasha, as though about to say something, but then continues walking.


Lol, well Shark and Rat are getting on just great, aren't they? ;) Btw, it's probably obvious, but any references to Shark being an arse (or words to that effect) in the IC sections are Dusk Rat's opinion, not mine ;).

While Dusk Rat didn't said anything, as she started to move away, Brook suddenly got up on its paws and took Rasha's sleeve in it's mouth, pulling it as if to tell her to follow along, before looking toward the departing Dusk Rat and then back again to Rasha's, the eyes suddenly turning quite puppy-like.

The bounty huntress looked at her dog dumbfounded for a moment, then glanced back at the group, especially Frost Ferret, and said, determination slowly replacing the perplexity as she spoke:

"Well, it seems like the girl is goin either way... and she shouldn't be alone; beside, she's not going to find the correct place without any help. And I had said I would go with her, anyway. I'm sure we'll manage."

And with that, the bounty huntress moved after the teenager, her step now betraying no indecision or uncertainty.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:45, Tue 24 July 2012.

"Hold up!" Shark roared, there was more than just irritation in her voice now. "I said all of ye are to get to the woods, not just you, Dusk Rat. Now ye can act all sullen and slink off to yer trees or ye can act like a bloody Kai and follow some damn orders." If Dusk Rat did not stop, Shark would storm after her to grab her.

Shark took a deep breath, this had been too long coming. The lack of leadership, the lack of of structure and order. The ship had long since blown off course and hit the rocks; she could only hope to salvage some of the wreckage before they all drowned. Blast it woman, now you're being too damn hard. Its not their fault. That bloody bastard Blue Snake did this - this must be exactly what he wanted, the lot of them to fall apart like this? She would not let that happen, not now.

"Now I've tried to hold me tongue and keep me place, but at ain't working. Ye loot are about ta head off into the woods where I'm betting its a whole hell of a lot more dangerous then this'ere town. So you better bloody well shape up and listen to some kai-damned orders-"

She turned her eyes on Swift Fox, "Blue Snake may have been a right ol'fool ta make ye leader, but 'ats what you damn well are so stop thinking about yer'self an how ye might fail, it ain't doin ye no good." Taking another deep breath, Shark dropped her voice, looking around to make sure no one else was listening, "yer bloody kai. Ye can beat this. Just stick together. Work together," She was standing in front of Swift Fox now and slapped the girl on the shoulder, "an its yer job to hold'em that way."

Stepping back, Shark sighed again. She shouldn't have done that, but it was done. And soon they'd be going their separate ways. Kai be damned why I am leaving these cast off dogs?

Hah! No worries, same way around and all! Shark just feels like she's leaving you all to go wander off and die alone in the woods, though :P

This message was last edited by the GM at 01:56, Wed 25 July 2012.

For a moment it looked as though Swift's frustration was about to finally boil over, but when she spoke up her voice was surprisingly soft.
"It sounds like you're confident he won't kill you for some reason if you do run into him.  And I'm not thinking of myself, as odd as that may seem, I'm trying to think of the best way to avoid getting all of you killed along with me.  Isn't that what a leader is supposed to do?  I wouldn't know..."
A wry grin crossed her face at the last three words, but disappeared almost as quickly as it had come.

She gave a shrug and turned to follow Dusk Rat and the others.
"Then if that's where you think we should be, I suppose we've got little in the way of other options right now."
She paused and glanced back.
"I hope you know what you're doing..."

She gave Shark a look that was difficult to read, perhaps she was concerned for her, but there was something less definable in her eyes too.
Then she turned back to follow the others...


OOC: Hmmm...  I have a bad feeling this won't end well...

Dusk Rat barely pauses as Shark yells after her, but at the sound of approaching footsteps she quickly turns, holding up an arm defensively to push Shark away if the loudmouthed Kai should try to touch her.

"Stick together?" she repeats. "This from the one who insists that we leave her to work alone? I know how to stay hidden. I know how to survive alone in the wild. I'm just bored of standing around while all about me is talk of what we should do or what we might do, instead of actually doing something. We've been sent here to locate the missing Kai. Whatever's going on among the Brotherhood might well be related, but my strength lies far from diplomacy and the social manoeuvring that comprises politics. I can hide. I'm comfortable away from walled places like towns and cities. So I'll go where I'm stronger. I'll look for signs of the missing Kai. And then I'll come back. If you've found anything in the meantime, perhaps we can combine our findings to produce something useful. The more of us who go, the more noticeable it will be, away from crowded places with windows and prying eyes."

She stops for a moment with an irritated sigh. She isn't used to saying this much. She isn't even sure if what she's saying makes sense. She knows what she means. She's fed up, now, of standing around with a leader who doesn't want to lead, and a highly verbose individual who's got no problem with trying to tell her what to do and why her ideas are bad ones. As for Frost Ferret...well, she hasn't had much chance to really figure him out yet.

She turns again to go.

So does this mean that everyone except Shark intends to go to the forest? As Dusk Rat points out, a group will be more noticeable out in the wild, where there aren't already crowds of people walking about. Not that Dusk Rat would suggest that someone like Swift Fox is no good at hiding - she already knows (or has worked out) that she has at least some aptitude for sneaking about ;).
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:15, Wed 25 July 2012.

Shark let her breath out through her teeth, she needed to calm down. When was the last time you were this upset? She wondered, but couldn't recall. Most everything in the past she managed to laugh off, but this was different. Stress? The lack of order? Maybe she'd just been stuck on land so long she forgot what it meant to work as a team. Er, crew.

Shaking her head, Shark grumbled, "that one ain't no idea what the meaning 'ov a word 'teamwork' is."

Turning back to Swift and Frost, "look, I ain't meanin ta run off an leave ye all; but the way I see it I ain't got a choice. Mission's changed now at we know the others'r dead. We need ta know who'a enemy is'ere. Ye've likely already figured out I know me way around this city, an I know folks - so m'comfortable gettin an insiders perspective. But I can't put ya'll at risk if it goes ta shit. Plus I know these folks- ye dun't. It'd be worlds'arder ta convience them I'm wit them if I brin a whole lot wit me."

"I know you aint comfortable leading," Shark added to Swfit Fox, "ats why I'm making this decision fer ye. When ye get back leave a message for me at the Swordfish Inn, there used ta be an old sea dog there by the name of Happs - grizzly feller with a bad eye an wooden leg. He'll know 'ow ta find me."

Having watched in puzzled silence at the sudden argumentative outbursts, Ferret finally moved off after Dusk Rat and Rasha. "I have to go with you," he said, apparently addressing no one in particular. "You don't know where to go."

Many things seemed strange to him about the attitudes of his fellow Kai, but if nothing else, Laughing Shark's tirade did at least seem to have forced a decision, whether it was one he agreed with or not, so now was not the time to further query their course of action.

Shark is now officially out of the group then, the rest of you is leaving.

Once the decision had been made, the group didn't spent long in their goodbyes, and soon enough the three Kai, plus a bounty huntress and her dog, where in the more elegant part of the city, being lead by Frost Ferret toward Toran's Western Gate, the one who would allow them to easily reach the woods where Silver Raven had disappeared.

However, as they walked close they noted an unusual activity at the gates; it seemed as if the soldier there where caught in a discussion with a lumberjack, and a group of curious in various attire - richly dressed nobles, beggars, colorful members of the lower classes, and even a couple of mages - were looking with interest as the soldiers and the lumberjack started to raise their voice, almost to the point of shouting...

Well, so much for Dusk Rat's plan, lol.

Dusk Rat makes no response as the others decide to follow along as she makes, at long last, for the city gates.
As they reach the area near the gates, Dusk Rat glances at the crowd. She makes sure her hood is up, and moves forward.
This message was last edited by the GM at 10:35, Fri 27 July 2012.

As Dusk Rat moved, the group seemed to lose track of her - it seemed that she was separating herself to better scout the area without attracting attention.
This message was last edited by the GM at 10:13, Fri 27 July 2012.

Swift glanced back at Frost Ferret and Rasha.
"Wait here a moment, I'll see what's going on."

With that, she turned towards the gate, hesitating a moment before moving forward.
She focused on the same ability she had drawn on before leaving the group at the Marketplace, imagining herself as a regular citizen of Toran.
With that she began to walk towards the gate at a casual stroll until she got close enough to hear what was being said between the people arguing with each other...


OOC: So Swift is using her Invisibility disguise trick again to make herself look like a normal citizen of Toran and trying to listen in on what's going on here :)

Quickly, Forst Ferret and Rasha lost sight of Swift Fox too as she mixed in with the crowd; even when they still saw it, they got the weirdest feeling that she was not one of them, but rather part of the crowd already, despite not being among them yet.

The bounty huntress shook her head, chuckling, and said:

"You lot really are something else, aren't you? Everytime you do something, I'm more and more surprised."

"To become less and less surprised would seem more rational," responded Frost Ferret, looking critically out across the crowd. "They are abilities honed beyond the typical by years of intensive training. It is reasonable to assume that many more people are capable of such things than are ever trained. And there are many other arts that the Kai do not specialise in. No Kai could have transported you hundreds of miles in a moment."

Rasha nodded.

"True, but that's magic. What you lot do is... different, you know? You do things I could do, like going unnoticed or finding a path, but you do it so much better. It's fascinating; I'm not new at my job, you know, and yet, standing among you, I feel like my skills mean nothing. That's why I'm still amazed."

Dusk Rat, Swift Fox, Frost Ferret made the roll I needed from him; now, to push things forward, I need one of you two to do something; neither of you has yet reacted to the situation, and if you don't, I can't really make anything new happen. Unless, of course, all you two want to do is stand around and wait to see what happens; but if so, you need to tell me.

Let me know your plans, ok? I'm waiting! ^_^

Seeing that the others were perhaps waiting for her to act, Swift sighed and approached the arguing people at the gate.
"Something the matter here?" she asked, making an effort to hide the impatient note in her voice...


OOC: Decided Swift's patience would wear out before her desire to avoid conversations again :)  hehe.

At Swift Fox's sudden appearance, several people turned in her direction, included the lumberjack and the soldier he was arguing with; the latter was the one to adress her.

"I'm sorry miss, but this man" he motioned toward the lumberjack "is asking us to remove the guard from the gates to go and check some the woods to confirm what's likely just a false alarm. As soon as he'll be done with bothering us, we'll let people through again; please, be patient."

At this, the lumberjack started to shout, now quite thoroughly enraged:

"I did not had a vision, it's not a false alarm! There's several dead bodies in the woods, you need to come and check on them!"

"And I told you to go and report to the barracks already! If what you're saying is true, which I doubt, then the Captain is the one with the authority to lift the guard from the gates, and not me!"

The two started to stare at each other again, as if trying to settle their discussion by seeing who of the two would surrender first - although neither one seemed to be willing to.
This message was last edited by the GM at 12:49, Sun 29 July 2012.

Swift suddenly became more interested in the conversation at the mention of bodies.  Perhaps this could be a hint to what was going on out here.
She allowed the illusion of her Toranese appearance to fade, revealing herself to them.
"Perhaps this is related to the reason we are here" she replied.  "I am Swift Fox of the Kai.  Can you lead us to where you found these bodies?"
She glanced towards the guard.
"That way, his claim can be checked out, and you can remain at your post.  Satisfactory?"


OOC: Dropping Invisibility effect now :)  How much does that cost me?